Tesla has eliminated a quality test in the Model 3 production process during its record production week.

The automaker says that the test was redundant, but a report claims that the test is actually critical.

A report from Business Insider claims that Tesla removed ‘the brake and roll test’ from the Model 3 production process last week.

The report said the test was “critical” to verify the vehicle’s alignment:

“According to an industry expert, the brake and roll test is a critical part of the car manufacturing process, taking place during its final stages. The test ensures that the car’s wheels are perfectly aligned, and it also checks the brakes and their function by taking the vehicle’s engine up to a certain RPM and observing how they react on diagnostic machines.”

Business Insider framed the issue as Tesla trying to cut corners to achieve its record production rate of 5,000 Model 3’s during the last week of the quarter.

Tesla denied the importance of the test and says that they were able to drop it because all of their cars are tested on a test track as part of the production process.

A Tesla spokesperson sent us the following statement:

“Every car we build goes through rigorous quality checks and must meet exacting specifications, including brake tests. To be extremely clear, we drive *every* Model 3 on our test track to verify braking, torque, squeal and rattle. There are no exceptions.”

The company also refuted Business Insider’s claim that the specific ‘brake and roll test’ has anything to do with verifying alignment.

Tesla says that it built a different system in-house to test alignment on the general assembly line for the Model 3.

Electrek’s Take

The level of scrutiny around Tesla amazes me every day. I might be not aware enough of the coverage of other automakers over the years, but I don’t remember any other automakers under such scrutiny that they changed one part of a 1,000+ step production process and it makes headlines.

I don’t know. Maybe it is actually important. We will know soon enough when Tesla starts delivering those Model 3’s produced last week, which should be any day now.

But for now, it does sound like Tesla found a redundant procedure in its manufacturing process and eliminated it.

I am not familiar enough with this particular “brake and roll test” to give a valuable opinion.